Seattle ties for second as worst city for dog attacks on mail carriers

The U.S. Postal Service says Seattle, along with San Antonio, was the second worst city in America for dog attacks on letter carriers last year, and it urged pet owners to help reduce the attacks.

There were 42 letter carriers bitten by dogs last year in Seattle and San Antonio, according to the Post Service’s tally.

The agency on Wednesday released its city rankings ahead of National Dog Bite Prevention Week, which starts Monday. The Postal Service said nearly 5,900 postal workers were attacked last year, a tiny portion of the 4.7 million Americans bitten by dogs annually.

Los Angeles was the worst with 69 attacks. The city with the least attacks was Wichita, Kan., with 20. Tacoma came in at number 19 with 21 postal carriers bitten by dogs.

If letter carriers feel threatened by a dog, they can skip delivery to the house and ask the customer to retrieve any mail at the post office instead.

Here’s the list to the worst cities for dog attacks on letter carriers last year:

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The Today File is a general news blog featuring real-time coverage of Seattle and the Northwest. It is reported by the news staff of The Seattle Times and includes stories from The Associated Press and McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.